Email Ewald Banai,was arrested by Revenue and Customs officers when he arrived at Belfast International Airport on a flight from Amsterdam

Email Ewald Banai, a 57-year-old Surinamese national resident in Holland, was arrested by Revenue and Customs officers when he arrived at Belfast International Airport on a flight from Amsterdam in October last year. During routine questioning, officers became suspicious and Mr Banai was arrested and taken to a nearby hospital for X-ray examination. One hundred small packages were recovered and on subsequent testing proved to contain a total of 1.07 kilos of cocaine with a street value of £207,000. Sentencing him at Antrim Crown Court, Judge Grant described Banai as "a habitual re-offender". He had previous involvement in Holland for drugs offences relating to cocaine and heroin. The judge said he wanted to "stamp out the illegal importation of drugs into Northern Ireland". John Whiting, Assistant Director Criminal Investigation and the HMRC said after the case; "HMRC is working closely with the police and other law enforcement agencies such as the Serious Organised Crime Agency to protect the public from the significant and damaging effects drugs have on our communities. "This collaboration is helping to protect the UK from the violence and corruption that always accompanies the trade in illegal drugs.

Rory Forrester was stopped at Belfast International Airport after arriving from Amsterdam in December.

Rory Forrester, from Violet Street in Derry, appeared at Coleraine Magistrates court on Tuesday. The court heard that he was was stopped at Belfast International Airport after arriving from Amsterdam in December. Customs officers found cocaine with a street value in excess of £80,000, depending on purity, in his baggage.

Johnson Fayiah

Johnson Fayiah, a 26-year-old passenger on the flight, was arrested and charged with attempting to smuggle the Class A drug and was remanded in custody at Antrim Court this week.
The three previous cocaine seizures all resulted in the arrest of Amsterdam passengers.
In October, a 56-year-old Dutch man was accused of smuggling £30,000 worth of the drug. Another Dutch national was arrested off a flight in early December and accused of importing £30,000 worth of cocaine.
A Londonderry man was arrested in mid-December after travelling back from Holland. He is accused of trying to bring more than £2,000 of the drug in.
John Whiting, the assistant director for criminal investigation in HM Revenue and Customs, said the seizures are one part of "protecting our communities from the violence and corruption that always accompanies the trade in illegal drugs".